


Heart and Home

by Measured_Words



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - Fandom, Pathfinder (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Belonging, Duty, Family, Gen, Marriage, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 18:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8170954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured_Words/pseuds/Measured_Words
Summary: Joanna had come up to Skahnéhtati in theory to speak with her grandmother, with a secondary objective of checking up on her brother.     “My heart feels strong, Joanna.  But the things we have …seen – they change you.  People here don’t understand that.  They shouldn’t need to.”   “You don’t feel like you belong anymore?”





	

Joanna had come up to Skahnéhtati in theory to speak with her grandmother, with a secondary objective of checking up on her brother. When she arrived, however, she’d been surprised to find Kahonstionekha working with the other men of the longhouse, working on repairing some of the clan’s fishing nets. Having greeted her various cousins and uncles, she pulled him aside for a walk and a more private conversation.

“I thought you were living with Kawisenhawe?”

Her brother shrugged. “That didn’t work out for her.”

“She kicked you out?” Sategat marriages were fairly informal affairs, arranged by the clan mothers, but they could be easily dissolved if the parties involved were dissatisfied. Kahonstionekha had seemed ambivalent about the idea in the first place, and he sighed at Joanna’s teasing.

“A good husband should not be a burden.”

In theory, Kahonstionekha should be any girl’s ideal husband – he had a well-earned reputation as a hunter and a warrior, but with less brash arrogance than others displayed. He was serious, dutiful, and respectful without being meek, and well travelled and worldly as well. “Are those her words? Or yours?”

“She thinks my spirit is still sick.”

Joanna nodded slowly. She knew the things they had seen and found when they had looked only to find a missing ally had had a profound effect on Kahonstioneka, but she also thought he had healed, with help from her and some of the other tribe’s healers. But she hadn’t been as confident as their grandmother that marriage was the next best step for his recovery. “What do you think?”

“My heart feels strong, Joanna. But the things we have …seen – they change you. People here don’t understand that. They shouldn’t need to.”

“You don’t feel like you belong anymore?”

Kahonstionekha looked at her, considering his answer, and Joanna wondered if she’d been projecting. Despite her efforts, she’d never quite felt like she wholly belonged with either her mother’s people or her father’s.

“I am Sategat, Joanna. I feel that, still. I feel my duty to the tribe, to our clan, to the Atenrosera. But I don’t know that my duty lies in the village. It’s our role to fight – to protect our lands. Some of the newcomers have carried great evil in their hearts, more than just their greed. You and I, we have seen the way this evil can poison the spirit, the body, the land… I don’t think my spirit can be at peace, knowing these evil things are out there and do nothing to fight them.”

Joanna hadn’t told him why she’d come to visit. She’d heard rumors of dark dealings among some merchants selling goods they’d bought with Phobean captives. She wasn’t entirely sure who all she could trust in Victoria, and had planned to ask for help from her other family. But she’d also planned to leave Kahonstionekha out of the matter if she could. “You know these fights have a different toll. You could die – but there are worse things.”

“I know that. I accept it, though I don’t want to be a burden on anyone – not a wife, or my sister, or my clan.” He paused to let her consider for a moment, but pressed on. “What’s happened? You can’t warn me off this fight and turn to face it on your own.”

Joanna thought herself as the stronger of the two in some ways. She’d had a harder path, certainly. But her brother was right, and she couldn’t think of anyone else she’d want watching her back – not really. “I’ve had disturbing news from Sir Temperance. I was going to ask grandmother if she would send a warrior with me, but if this is what you really want, then I think it should be you. I’ll tell her that.”

Kahonstionekha nodded. “Thank you. The chiefs should have no objections – I’ve spoken with them on these matter before. And besides-” he smiled, teasing, “-if you’d left here with anyone else, people would just think she’d finally convinced you to accept a husband.”

Joanna gave him her best little sister glare. She’d thought of that, and had been considering all she could do to mitigate any rumours, knowing they would have been inevitable despite her efforts. This was better. “Come on then. We can go see her together.”


End file.
